Dancing in the Rain
by primitivekittens
Summary: When two of the ducks are left alone in the Pond, they begin to uncover their hidden feelings for each other W/M...Reformatted for your reading pleasure!
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer~ I do not own the Mighty Ducks or anything remotely related to them. Disney does, so please don't sue me. I'm not making anything off of this either; it's purely for entertainment purposes.  
  
Authors Note~ Hey to everyone! This site is filled with lots of Tanya/Wing fics so I decided to try to even out the score with one of my craptacular Mal/Wing fics! So to all u die-hard T/W fans out there.sorry! To all the Mal/Wing fans, Yay for us! Hehe newhos, um reviews are appreciated; though they aren't necessary. I know that it can be hard to review EVERY story u read so I guess I don't really care whether or not y'all review. Flames are appreciated too, as they will be used to satisfy my urge to burn things. I'm sorry, I'm a pyro (j/k!), although sharp and pointy objects are always fun too! ^____^  
Dancing in the Rain  
Chapter One  
  
All Wildwing could see was mist. Although he was standing up straight he could see no walls, floor or ceiling. All he saw was an endless stretch of dark, gray mist. This place was oddly familiar, like he had been here before. Suddenly, he saw a bright flash of light. A female duck appeared out of the bright flash, and Wildwing instantly knew where he was. This was the dream. He knew this place because he had been here before, and the female duck was a very familiar sight. He knew who she was, he had seen her before, he knew what she was going to look like. Yet even though he had seen her before, he was still drawn to her. He became lost in the sight of her, his mind clouded up as he looked at her and examined her closely. She wore a black dress that hugged her curves and clung tightly to her. It had an extremely low neckline and slits that went up to the tops of her thighs, exposing the sides of her legs. The back of her dress started at her waist, exposing her entire back. Her diamond necklace glimmered despite the lack of light, and her hair was pinned up in a tight French roll, although a few pieces fell out to hang next to her face. In a nutshell, she was gorgeous and Wildwing could not take his eyes off of her. Unafraid, he approached her. They gazed at each other for what seemed like an eternity, and as beautiful as she looked, her eyes were burdened with sadness and pain. He wrapped his arms around her waist and her eyes became filled with joy. Wildwing bent down to kiss her, but suddenly a loud beeping noise sounded and everything went black.  
  
"Damn it!" Wildwing cursed under his breath. "That's it I officially HATE my alarm clock. I'd rather be late to a thousand practices than be woken up from my dream again!"  
  
Wildwing had been having this dream for a week straight. He didn't know why he had been having it either. He had to admit, he liked the girl duck in his dreams. Not only did he like her, he was in love with her. To him she was gorgeous, funny, and fun to be around. The only problem was, he knew that he couldn't have her. For starters, he was her leader. No one would approve of them going out, probably not even her.  
  
"She probably doesn't even notice that I exist." He said  
  
Wildwing knew what she thought of him. He was her leader, nothing more and nothing less. She just answered his commands, did what he told her to do. Going out with him would violate her lifestyle. He silently wished that he could tell her how he felt, but he knew that it would be pointless. All she would do was reject him.  
  
It was just so unfair. It was unfair to her because he didn't want to put the responsibility of making someone so unhappy on her shoulders. It would be unfair for her to feel so.guilty. It was unfair to him too. All the girls he had ever liked had rejected and ridiculed him. He had always felt alone and unhappy, and the fact that he thought that she didn't like him made him feel miserable.  
  
"I can always dream though." He sighed  
  
Wildwing started to remember all the times that they had been together recently. He remembered when they defeated Dragaunus for the second time, they had paired up to go after the giant, red Saurian himself, and they had delivered the fatal blows to his severely crippled form. She was so excited that she had dropped all of her weapons and hugged him.  
  
"She actually touched me." he thought  
  
She had smiled as she hugged him. She really should smile more; he always thought that it made her look more beautiful than she already did. They just stood there in each other's arms for what seemed like an eternity, not knowing what to say or do. Finally they broke apart, and she just beamed and flashed him one of her rare smiles. Then she grabbed her knife and chopped off one of Dragaunus's spikes from the crest on his head.  
  
"A keepsake of this moment" was all she said.  
  
Wildwing snapped out of his memories and realized that he needed to get a start on the day. He couldn't stop thinking about her though. Even as he was taking a shower he still remembered the times they had spent together. He began to reminisce on the party that they had thrown after they had defeated Dragaunus and the rest of his henchmen. They had stayed up later than everyone else just drinking, partying and having fun. She had been to drunk to walk back to her room by the time that they had decided to go to bed, so Wildwing carried her back to her room. She had fallen asleep immediately after Wildwing had secured the blankets over her. In a moment of weakness, Wildwing bent down and brushed a few strands of loose hair out of her face, and he leaned down and kissed her forehead and whispered goodnight to her. Wildwing once again snapped out of his memories and hopped out of the shower and got dressed. He read his clock,  
  
"5:30, Thank goodness for being up early so I can have just a little bit of peace before everyone else gets up."  
  
Yet even as he got ready to head out of his bedroom he gave one last sigh, as he thought about the one girl duck that he was so desperately in love with.  
  
"Oh Mallory, why do you invade every corner of my mind? Why do I love you even when I know it will bring me nothing but pain?"  
  
With that said, he headed down to the kitchen to get some breakfast. 


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer~ I do not own the Mighty Ducks or anything remotely related to them. Disney does, so please don't sue me. I'm not making anything off of this either; it's purely for entertainment purposes.  
Chapter 2  
  
Wildwing walked into the kitchen and sighed. He wasn't surprised to see Mallory standing in the kitchen, trying to find something to eat.  
  
"I should have known you'd be up by now Mal." He said  
  
"Being up this early is just a bad military habit." She replied, "I'm surprised that you even noticed me standing here, all by myself in the corner of the kitchen."  
  
"I would think that people would be able to notice you wherever you go." He replied, pouring himself a cup of coffee  
  
"Yea, well, most people don't seem to notice me," she said flatly, swirling her coffee in her mug  
  
"I don't see how they couldn't notice you." he said  
  
"Why because I'm always yelling my head off at everyone?" she asked with a slight smile "No, its because I would think that people would be able to notice someone as radiant as you standing near them."  
  
Mallory was stunned by his words. She had always thought Wildwing to be a gentleman and very attractive, but she had never expected to be the focus of his attention. To stunned to even think, all she managed to say was,  
  
"Here have a pop-tart."  
  
"Do you want to come eat breakfast with me on the roof?" he asked  
  
"Yea, I'd love to." She said, apparently shaken from her daze.  
  
"Great then let's go." Said Wildwing.  
  
Mallory and Wildwing climbed to the top of the roof, and sat down to watch the sun come up.  
  
"You never realize how much you take life for granted until you slow down and learn to appreciate the little things in life." Said Mallory, staring out into the endless depths of the sky  
  
"What kinds of little things would you be talking about?" he asked jokingly  
  
"Watching a sunrise with your best friend perhaps?" she replied looking him straight in the eyes.  
  
"I thought Tanya was your best friend." He said  
  
"Ever since she and Duke started dating I've kinda become the third wheel." She said wrapping her arms around her chest. "They would always ask me to come with them, just to be nice ya know? I only went with them once and I ended up leaving, they had spent the entire night making out. I just hopped on my duckcycle and came back early. The site of them just sitting there together wanted to make me puke." Mallory shivered from the cold.  
  
She hadn't thought about bringing a jacket, and now she was regretting it.  
  
"You cold?" asked Wildwing  
  
"A bit" she replied "But it's nothing I can't handle."  
  
Wildwing took off his sweatshirt and tossed it to Mallory "Catch! Its pre- warmed and everything!" he said  
  
"Are you sure that you don't need it?" she asked  
  
"Yea I have a heavy long sleeved shirt on under that sweatshirt."  
  
"Thanks Wing." She said smiling. She noted in her mind that it smelled like him.  
  
Wildwing scooted over closer to Mallory so that their arms were almost touching.  
  
"So tell me more about the whole Tanya and Duke thing. It sounds interesting." He said  
  
"What's there to know?" she said "There together now and I'm happy for them. Tanya used to talk about him non-stop before they got together. At least now she'll shut up about him every once in a while, that is if she even talks to me" She grumbled at the last part of the statement.  
  
"Feeling left out?" asked Wildwing  
  
"Ye.well no.not exactly." She replied, "Tanya and I don't spend nearly as much time as we did together, but now I don't want to do anything that she's doing anymore. Whenever she does something she HAS to have Duke with her. It's like she now values a 2-year relationship over a 10-year friendship. It's like I said, I'm the third wheel now." She sighed  
  
"I know how you feel Mal" said Wing, "Duke and I used to be best friends until he started dating Tanya. Then he wouldn't shut up about her. He would always be like 'Tanya did this.' or 'Tanya did that.' I couldn't take it anymore. I stopped talking to him after a while. Whenever I tried to talk to him he'd be with Tanya. They would always be making out so I just left them alone."  
  
"Couldn't you talk to Nosedive though? I mean he IS your brother." She asked  
  
"He was always with Grin. There inseparable. And besides, he does get a little annoying after a while. He's too hyper and happy for me." He said  
  
"Oh" was all Mallory could manage to say.  
  
For a few moments they just sat in silence, watching the sun rise and fill the sky with an array of orange, pink and all other sorts of colors.  
  
"Does seeing Duke and Tanya being so happy together" asked Mallory, "ever make you feel really."  
  
"Alone?" they both said at the same time.  
  
"Well maybe" said Wing, "We can just sit up here and be alone, together."  
  
"Sure" she replied  
  
They sat on the roof in a comfortable silence for a half-hour, watching the last of the sun's rays appear over the horizon.  
  
"We should go back inside." Said Wing, "Everyone else will be getting up in about 10 minutes."  
  
"Hey Wing." Said Mallory  
  
"Yea Mal." Said Wing  
  
"My coffee is cold and I think these pop-tarts are stale." She said with a hint of laughter in voice.  
  
"You know I think you're right!" said Wing, chuckling and rising to his feet at the same time.  
  
"I could use that as an analogy to describe my life." She said  
  
"Need a hand?" he asked, extending his hand to help her up  
  
"Thanks" she said.  
  
"My life is like cold coffee and stale pop-tarts in the morning," thought Wing out loud "That's kinda clever."  
  
"Maybe" she sighed, "Here's your sweatshirt back."  
  
"Thanks" he said  
  
With that, Wing and Mallory went inside to wait for everyone else to wake up. 


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer~ I do not own the Mighty Ducks or anything remotely related to them. Disney does, so please don't sue me. I'm not making anything off of this either; it's purely for entertainment purposes.  
  
Chapter 3  
  
Wildwing and Mallory headed back into the kitchen to make fresh coffee and find something to eat other than stale pop-tarts. As they were waiting for the coffee to finish, Wing and Mallory sat down at the table.  
  
"How do you do it?" Mallory asked Wildwing  
  
"How do I do what?" he asked back  
  
"How do you weasel information about my feelings out of me?" she said  
  
"It's a gift." He replied, "So is there anything else you'd like to add on to our last conv." Wildwing was stopped short by the sound of an enthusiastic scream of joy coming from down the hallway.  
  
"VACATION TIME!"  
  
It was Nosedive, running down the hallway at full speed, dressed in clothes fit for the beach.  
  
"Hey Wing! Hey Mal!" said Nosedive  
  
"Um Dive, Mallory and I were discussing something really important so if you want to be loud and hyper, go somewhere else to do it." Said Wing, thoroughly irritated.  
  
"Well if you guys want your peace, I suggest that YOU go find somewhere else to talk because everyone is going be in here in about 2 minutes." Retorted Nosedive, running back down the hallway to fetch everyone else.  
  
"Is it just me, or his he much more irritating and loud in the morning than in the afternoon?" asked Mallory  
  
"Eh you learn to live with it. He was a hyper child and he's going to be a very.spunky adult." Sighed Wildwing, rubbing his temples.  
  
Just moments later, Nosedive walked back into the kitchen accompanied by Tanya, Duke and Grin. Nosedive and Duke were talking, while Tanya and Grin reached for the coffee pot.  
  
"Hey look Wing, It's TweedleDee and TweedleDum the wonder dummies" Whispered Mallory while nodding her head towards Nosedive and Duke.  
  
"Mallory! That mean but it is kinda funny," said Wing while jabbing her in the ribs with his elbow.  
  
"And its also very true" added Mallory.  
  
"Should we go load their shit in the migrator for them?" asked Wing  
  
"Nope, if they can pack it, they can load it" she said  
  
"If we help out now, they'll leave sooner!" he said  
  
"Fine, lets go grab their crap and load it," said Mal  
  
"I knew you'd help after I said that" he said  
  
"Oh and why is that?" she retorted  
  
"I know how irritated you are with all of them right now" he replied  
  
"Come on, if we don't do it then it's never going to get done" grumbled Mallory.  
  
Mallory and Wildwing got up out of their chairs and headed towards the door.  
  
"TANYA!" yelled Wildwing "Mal and I are going to go load everyone's crap in the migrator! Is that ok with y'all?"  
  
"Yea sure Wing! Thanks for the help!" Tanya yelled back, but she was paying more attention to Duke and his eye than Wildwing and Mallory.  
  
"We'll meet you all outside near the migrator!" screamed Wildwing  
  
"Fine by us!" said Tanya  
  
So Mallory and Wildwing went off to load up the migrator while everyone else finished breakfast. 


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer~ I do not own the Mighty Ducks or anything remotely related to them. Disney does, so please don't sue me. I'm not making anything off of this either; it's purely for entertainment purposes.  
  
Chapter 4  
  
Tanya finally got everyone together, and they all met outside where Mallory and Wildwing were finishing loading everyone's luggage onto the Migrator.  
  
"Everyone listen up!" Wildwing shouted at the group.  
  
No one paid any attention to what Wildwing was saying, and therefore did not turn around to listen to him.  
  
"If you want to get everyone's attention then you're gonna have to make yourself heard, Wing" said Mallory matter-of-factly.  
  
She fired a spare shot into the air from her pucklauncher, and screamed, "Alright everyone SHUT UP!"  
  
Everyone instantly stopped talking and turned around to pay attention to her. Wildwing was left standing there, his beak hanging open in bewilderment.  
  
"The stage is all yours Wing" said Mallory, closing his beak with the end of her pucklauncher, "And next time, don't stand here with your mouth gaping open like an idiot."  
  
Mallory smiled smugly while everyone else tried to suppress giggles and smirks at Wildwing's dumfounded behavior.  
  
"But.how did you?" Wildwing shook his head to clear it "Nevermind, ok everyone we need to go over a few of the rules for while you are in Florida."  
  
Collective groans were heard chorusing throughout the four Florida-bound ducks.  
  
"First, keep your com's on at all times. Any calls you make back home to either Mallory or I will be transferred to Drake One. If y'all spot anything suspicious, then don't hesitate to call for back up, Mallory and I can run tests to check for anything, and we have the Aerowing. Does everyone understand me?"  
  
Everyone agreed and everyone gave their goodbye hugs and handshakes, and Duke, Tanya, Nosedive and Grin piled into the Migrator.  
  
"Have fun y'all" called Mallory, while waving at the Migrator.  
  
"Yeah and be careful!" called Wildwing.  
  
"Oh lighten up Wing" Mal sneered playfully at him.  
  
They both waved at the Migrator until it was out of sight. Wildwing looked over at Mallory as soon as she stopped waving. A look of relief flowed through her eyes and a small smile crept across her beak.  
  
"Relieved to get away from Nosedive for two weeks Mal?" asked Wildwing jokingly  
  
"Yeah, I am." She replied  
  
They walked inside and Mallory lay down on the couch while Wildwing sat in one of the chairs. Mallory sighed and a look of boredom crossed her face.  
  
"I'm sorry that you're stuck with me for two weeks, Mal"  
  
"You aren't that boring Wildwing" was her reply  
  
Wildwing got up and leaned over Mallory until their eyes met.  
  
"I'm so boring that even Tanya can't stand to be around me," said Wildwing.  
  
Mallory lifted her arm up and ran a hand through his hair and kept a grip on it.  
  
"Trust me Wing. You aren't as boring as you think you are" was her only reply  
  
"Can.can I take you out shopping?" Wildwing stammered.  
  
He knew the question was random but he really did want to take her out somewhere if they were going to get to spend two weeks together.  
  
"I'd love that Wing! See you aren't as stiff and boring as everyone says you are" she said.  
  
She removed her hand from his hair, totally unaware to the fact that she had been holding onto it. She hopped off of the couch and brushed past Wildwing on her way out.  
  
"I'll be ready in 30 minutes. And by the way, you really need to stop standing there with your mouth hanging open all the time, that's the second time today" she said playfully.  
  
Only then did Wing realize he had been stand there like an idiot, mouth agape in shock of Mallory acting so extroverted towards him. When he turned around to respond to her comment, Mallory was gone. The only thing that he could think about was how his head felt colder now that Mallory's hand was absent from his hair. Still shocked from her touch, he just walked to his room in a love-induced daze. 


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer~ I do not own the Mighty Ducks or anything remotely related to them. Disney does, so please don't sue me. I'm not making anything off of this either; it's purely for entertainment purposes.  
  
Chapter 5  
  
Mallory was in shock of herself. She was trying to find something to wear while drying off from her shower. She knew what she did was against military protocol. In fact she felt embarrassed. What she did was severely inappropriate, especially since she did not know how he felt about her. She threw on a somewhat new pair of jeans that she thought would show off what little curves she had and a tight-fitting, strapless shirt that exposed part of her midriff, and subsequently part of her finely toned abs.  
  
"Thank god for joining the military, hopefully my abs aren't that bad looking." She thought to herself.  
  
She was all ready to go but yet all she could do is sit in front of her mirror, clutch her purse and loose herself deep in thought.  
  
"My brain is telling me that loving Wildwing is a mistake, yet my heart says to go ahead and love him. Do I follow my heart or my head? Do I follow the rules that I always have, the ones that have shaped me and my life, or do I break free of everything I have ever believed in? Can I handle the rejection if he doesn't like me back?"  
  
All of the questions ran through Mallory's head at the moment, and they were giving her a killer headache. All she wanted to was to know what to do about her feelings for Wildwing. She needed to know if she was to ignore them, or if she needed to act on them.  
  
"Screw the rules, just this once I'm going to do something for myself."  
  
She grabbed her keys out of her purse as a knock sounded on her door.  
  
"Mal are you ready yet?" it was Wildwing, calling from outside of her room.  
  
The doors hissed open as Mallory stepped out if her room.  
  
"I'll drive," she said, jingling her car keys. 


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer~ I do not own the Mighty Ducks or anything remotely related to them. Disney does, so please don't sue me. I'm not making anything off of this either; it's purely for entertainment purposes.  
  
Chapter 6  
  
The car ride to the mall was uneventful and silent. Both Mallory and Wildwing were lost in their own worlds, oblivious to each other. They reached the entrance to the mall and hopped out of the car.  
  
"So where do you want to go first?" asked Wildwing  
  
"There's a great sale going on at Hecht's, let's go there first!" replied Mal, and they headed in to do some serious shopping.  
  
Mallory browsed around in the clothes, and Wildwing helped her to pick out stuff that he thought would look good on her. Wildwing was just standing right next to Mallory when he glanced over and saw a dress that he thought Mallory would look radiant in. It was a very dark turquoise color, almost black and it had a low neckline with high-cut slits up the leg.  
  
"Hey Mal, look at this" said Wildwing, taking the dress off the rack.  
  
"Wow Wing, That's gorgeous! I never knew you had good taste in clothes" said Mal jokingly.  
  
"Hey!" was Wildwing's only reply as he tossed her the dress.  
  
"I'll go try this stuff on, you can stand outside my door so you can see what looks good and what doesn't when I come out" she said  
  
"Okay Mal, let's go" he replied  
  
Mallory and Wildwing headed off to the dressing rooms, and Wildwing looked at everything she had tried on, and most of it had looked okay, and fit right. The last thing that Mallory had tried on was the dress that Wildwing had picked out for her. Mallory walked out of the dressing room slightly embarrassed over the plunging neckline and the height of the slits that left very little to the imagination.  
  
"Wildwing, I'm going to kill you for this." grumbled Mallory as she stepped out of the dressing room.  
  
Wildwing couldn't do anything but stare and drop his jaw. Mallory looked gorgeous. The dress clung perfectly to her frame, and accentuated her body's natural curves, and elegant posture. Mallory just looked amused at Wildwing's shock and walked up to him quite seductively and playfully.  
  
"I take it you like what you see, huh Wildwing? By the way, you should really learn how to control your jaw; it's hanging open again." she said putting her index finger under his jaw and gently snapping his mouth shut.  
  
Mallory couldn't help but laugh at Wildwing standing there looking like an idiot and staring at her. She put her hands on her hips and stood right in front of him, waiting for a response.  
  
"Mal, you look.radiant in that," he said, still in shock over how good she looked in that dress.  
  
Mallory just blushed and smiled at him, then walked back into the dressing room to change back into her street clothes. Wildwing felt like a fool. He knew that he had just stood there staring at her like most men would. All Wildwing could do was stand there and feel like an idiot, and wait for Mallory to come out of the dressing room. After Mallory and Wildwing finished buying her clothes, Mallory dragged Wildwing over to the men's section to find some clothes for him.  
  
"Your wardrobe must be getting worn out, I mean we have been here for three years and I haven't seen you go shopping ever since we first got here! Now come on, I'm dragging you in here whether or not you like it!"  
  
Wildwing didn't have the will to argue with Mallory when it came to shopping for anything. In the end, Mallory had picked out several new outfits for him, all of which were dark, and usually had blue in it, Wildwing's favorite color.  
  
"How did you know that my favorite color was blue?" Wildwing asked Mallory while walking out of the store.  
  
"I didn't. I just thought that the blue in that shirt matched your eyes" she said.  
  
"You know, that was what I thought about you when I first saw that dress. I didn't notice the neckline or the slits, all I noticed was that the dress was turquoise, and that your eyes are turquoise too. It could have been the ugliest dress in the world, and yet I still would have looked at it because the dark turquoise compliments your eyes, even though they are considerably lighter" he said turning his head to look at her reaction.  
  
All Mallory could do was blush furiously and smile.  
  
"Hey look there's a jewelry store! Lets look in there" said Mallory  
  
Mallory and Wildwing looked at the jewelry for a while, until Mallory saw something that caught her eye. It was a beautiful silver chain, with a big turquoise color, raindrop shaped stone hanging down in the front, with progressively smaller, yet similar shaped stones hanging off of the chain, about an eighth of an inch between each turquoise stone.  
  
"Do you like that one Mal?" asked Wildwing  
  
"Oh, I'm just looking at it, I do think it's pretty though" she said.  
  
"It matches your dress" he replied.  
  
"Its really expensive though, come on let's go get something to eat" she said, trying to change the topic.  
  
"Alright" was his only reply. 


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer~ I do not own the Mighty Ducks or anything remotely related to them. Disney does, so please don't sue me. I'm not making anything off of this either; it's purely for entertainment purposes.  
  
Chapter 7  
  
Mallory and Wildwing sat down with their food that they had gotten from the food court and discussed their past.  
  
"So Mal what was your family like back home?" asked Wing  
  
Mallory stared blankly at her food and took a deep breath.  
  
"If you could call them family that is." was her reply  
  
Wildwing put down his gyro and looked at Mallory with a worried look on his face  
  
"I didn't really like my family all that much" she began "I grew up in a family with 3 other boys, and both of my parents were in the army. I was the youngest, and my brothers would always pick on me, even when they became teenagers, merely for the fact that I was a girl. My parents never did anything about it, they just dismissed their behavior towards me. My youngest brother was always getting into severe trouble. I was always the therapist for my mother whenever he fucked up. In the course of four years he had wrecked a car, smoked pot, did other various drugs, drank, fought constantly with my parents and got one of his girlfriends knocked up and refused to take responsibility for it. My father shunned me because I was a girl. Whenever he did pay attention to me it was to yell at me or to blame me for everything that happened. My mother always came to me when she needed someone to talk to, and I always tried to help her the best I could. At some point I got so depressed that I began to cut my wrists, I still have scars on my arms and hips from where I cut myself"  
  
Mallory held out her wrists to show Wildwing the scars that she had inflicted on herself.  
  
Wildwing ran his hand over her wrist where the cuts were, and held her wrist in between his hands. Chills ran up her spine from his touch, but she didn't flinch.  
  
"When I was 15 I tried to commit suicide. I backed out at the last minute, but no one ever found out. I was so happy to leave for the military when I was 18. All I can remember is packing up my things and then my father walked up to me as I left. He told me to leave and to never come back. He told me how ashamed he was in me that I couldn't be the son he always wanted. He told me that he hated me. My mother heard it all too, but she didn't say anything. A few years later I found out that they had all been murdered. I didn't really care, they had never been a real family to me anyways, all we ever shared in relation to one another was blood. So I didn't really lose anyone in the invasion. I had no friends and no family to leave behind."  
  
Mallory had a blank, emotionless look on her face. Wildwing knew that these memories were painful for Mallory, even if she would never admit it. He let go of her wrist and grasped her hands inside of his, trying to read her face to see what she was feeling.  
  
"I'm sorry Wildwing I probably never should have told you. I've never told anyone about my past before, I've never really trusted anyone with that sort of information about myself before." She said sadly.  
  
"Mallory I'm so sorry that life has been so hard on you, I never would have guessed that you would have been through all this. I'm so glad that you trust me enough to tell me all this." He said.  
  
"I'm not really all that hungry anymore Wing," said Mallory slipping her hands out of his to reach for her tray.  
  
"I'm not really all that hungry either, Mal" he replied  
  
They both got up and threw their food away. Mal grabbed her bag of clothes that she had bought, while Wing reached for his.  
  
"Why don't we finish swapping life stories later, Wing? I think I'm gonna head down to the lingerie store, and since I don't think you want to go there with me I'll meet you back by the exit in 30 minutes. Sound good to you?"  
  
"Yea, sure Mal."  
  
"Great see you later Wing!" 


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer~ I do not own the Mighty Ducks or anything remotely related to them. Disney does, so please don't sue me. I'm not making anything off of this either; it's purely for entertainment purposes.  
  
Chapter 8  
  
As Mallory headed for the lingerie store, Wildwing headed down to the jewelry store that they had been in before lunch. Wildwing walked up to the display cases, and looked around until he found what he was looking for. He saw the necklace that Mallory had been admiring earlier. It was pretty, he had to admit that, but he knew that Mallory would look ravishing in it. Her eyes could easily outshine the beauty of the necklace that he was looking at. He looked at the price tag, it read $400. Then he remember Mallory's story about her past. In an instant he knew that nothing was too good for her. She deserved fame, wealth, and above all, happiness. She deserved the world for all that she had been through. Her moodiness, distrust, anger and incredible strength, they were all so understandable now. He walked up to the clerk, bought the necklace for Mallory, and then headed back to the exit to wait for Mallory.  
  
Mallory hurried into the lingerie store, in a hurry to get away from Wildwing, wanting to forget that she had ever told him about her past. She was trying so hard to fight her emotions, to build a wall around her that no one could ever get through. All of a sudden, Wildwing had created a crack in her wall. Eventually, she knew that he would be able to tear down her wall, he would be able to find out all of her secrets and fears. Mallory started scanning the store, trying to get her mind to stop thinking about all of this frustration, but to no avail. She didn't want anyone finding out about how she really felt, she didn't want to get close to anyone, she didn't want to trust anyone. Yet somehow, Wildwing was getting close to her, unwrapping all of her layers to get to her emotions and feelings, the ones that she had kept hidden from the people around her. She had to decide if she really wanted to trust Wildwing, part of her wanted to reach out to him, the other wanted to hide from him, wanted to reject their growing bond. She decided to not say anything unless he brought it up, and even then she might not say anything. After buying a very revealing nightgown, and a few sets of sexy underwear, she headed towards the exit to meet up with Wildwing. 


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer~ I do not own the Mighty Ducks or anything remotely related to them. Disney does, so please don't sue me. I'm not making anything off of this either; it's purely for entertainment purposes.  
  
Chapter 9  
  
Mallory hurried to the exit, and found Wildwing sitting on a bench watching her walk over to him.  
  
"Have fun Mal?"  
  
"Yea, I did, ready to go?"  
  
"Sure, where did you park the car?" he asked, holding the door open for Mallory.  
  
"I see us, although we really aren't that hard to miss. I mean how many other teal SUV's with duck head- shaped hoods are there in this world?"  
  
Wildwing laughed and climbed into the car as soon as they got to it. Mallory climbed into the driver's seat and started up the engine.  
  
"Thanks for the shopping trip Wildwing, I had lots of fun."  
  
"No problem Mal, I had fun too."  
  
Wildwing turned on the radio while Mallory concentrated on driving. The car ride back to the pond was quiet, Mallory knew that Wildwing was thinking about what she had said at lunch, she hoped that this didn't change his views on her.  
  
Mallory pulled up to the parking lot in the pond, and her and Wildwing got out, taking their shopping bags with them. They both put their things away and then came back to the Ready Room to see if any of the other ducks had left them messages. They both then retreated into the lounging room, crashing on the couch.  
  
"Hey Mal, can we finish swapping life stories now, or would you rather not?"  
  
"Yea sure if you want to" she said, trying to avoid looking at him.  
  
"Well I told you everything about my life at home, but life at school was worse than being at home. I was never popular, and a lot of people used to make fun of me all the time. Middle school was tough because a lot of my friends backstabbed me and spread all kinds of shit about me. Then in high school I began to lose my faith and trust in other people. I alienated myself because so many people that I had trusted and loved had either betrayed or abandoned me. I hated everyone around me, but I hated myself more than anyone."  
  
At this point Wildwing draped his arm around her shoulder, and wrapped his other free arm around her waist. Mallory wrapped her arms around his neck and buried her head into his chest. Wildwing was enjoying being able to hold Mallory in his arms, and whether or not she wanted to admit it, Mallory enjoyed being held by someone else, especially Wildwing.  
  
"I always used to think that I was to blame for everything. I still do. I mean I always felt that I must have done something horribly wrong to deserve all of the things that happened to me. I began to believe what everyone said about me. I felt worthless and unhappy, yet no one seemed to want to help me, so I just gave in to everyone else, they succeeded at making me miserable. I had very few friends, and eventually I stopped being friends with them. I was alone because I knew that no one else could relate to what I was going through. I didn't want to have to go through the torture that was brought on by my emotions, so I hid them from everyone, I didn't cry because it made me feel weak. I didn't share my pain or grief with anyone, I just kept my life hidden from everyone. I had to be strong for the people around me, even though I had very little strength to begin with. I had to help everyone, and yet not be helped in return. I was so miserable, I just gave up after a while. In the end I lost all of my hope, trust and self-confidence, I still haven't gained any of it back yet, and a part of me is still miserable over it. But the thing that made me the most miserable was the fact that I lost my ability to love. I lost all concept of love because those who I was supposed to love treated me like shit. Therefore, I just lost the concept of it, I never felt like people do when they love others."  
  
Wildwing was stricken with a new sense of grief. He never knew that her soul had died, that she was so miserable. He just held her in his arms and gently rocked her back and forth, in small, slow strides. He rested his head on top of hers and looked down at her face, she looked so unhappy. Then the impossible happened, Mallory began to cry. Silent tears of pain, depression and anger slid down her face and stained her cheeks. He knew that she was trying so hard not to cry, but that she couldn't keep everything bottled up any longer. He quickly gathered her up into his arms and carried her back into her room. He sat down on the bed with her, and held her in his arms again, half sitting, and half resting against her numerous pillows, just holding her and letting her cry. He wiped away the tears from her cheeks, and tightened his grip around her waist.  
  
"Here now you can cry in private and I can leave if you want me to." Said Wing gently.  
  
"No, stay please, and thanks for bringing me back here for privacy's sake." She replied, her voice choked with tears.  
  
He wrapped one arm tighter around her waist and gently rubbed her back with the other, letting her tighten her arms around his waist. He could feel her head resting on top of his neck, her tears falling onto his feathers, and her choked yet silent gasps for air warming the side of his neck. He quietly hummed, a trick that had always worked to make Nosedive feel more secure when he was a child, hoping it would work on Mallory. Apparently it did, because Mallory stopped crying after a little while.  
  
"Thank you Wing." She mumbled into his neck "I'm sorry I broke down like this in front of you, it's not how I wanted you to see me."  
  
"No don't be sorry Mal, I'm glad that you let yourself cry in front of me. I'm glad that you trust me enough to let your emotions show in front of me." He replied, hugging her tighter than before.  
  
Within a few minutes, Mallory had fallen asleep in his arms. Not wanting to disturb her, Wildwing didn't let go of her, but instead fell asleep holding her. 


	10. Chapter 10

Disclaimer~ I do not own the Mighty Ducks or anything remotely related to them. Disney does, so please don't sue me. I'm not making anything off of this either; it's purely for entertainment purposes.  
  
Chapter 10  
  
It took Mallory a few minutes to realize where she was. The last thing she remembered was Wildwing holding her in his arms as she cried, and then resting her head on his neck.  
  
"Shit!" she thought "I must have fallen asleep after I spilled my guts to Wing and made myself look like a total wimp to him."  
  
She thought about trying to get up, but realized that she'd only wake him up in the process. She decided to just lay there until he woke up, knowing that this might be the only time that she would ever wake up next to him. She enjoyed waking up next to him. She wasn't uncomfortable at all, although the position that they were in was reserved for people who were more than just friends. His arms were wrapped around her waist, one going up under her shirt and touching her back. Her arms were wrapped around his waist, and his head was buried in her hair. Their legs were intertwined, and they were so jumbled together that it was going to be hard to separate them. Mallory just enjoyed the warmth of his body, and wrapped her arms more tightly around his waist. Just a few moments later, Wildwing stirred from his sleep, and he woke up. Mallory could see Wildwing try to take in his surroundings, but neither one of them attempted to move from each other's hold.  
  
"Good evening Wing" Mallory mumbled, still trying to let go of the remnants of sleep.  
  
"Do we HAVE to get up Mal?" he sighed  
  
"No, but do you really want to be stuck with me for all eternity?"  
  
He responded by wrapping his arms tighter around her body, and burying her head deeper into her hair.  
  
"Let's go out for dinner tonight" he mumbled through her hair  
  
"Somewhere fancy?" asked Mal  
  
"Why not, I'll pay," he said  
  
Mallory and Wildwing finally managed to untangle their arms and legs, and Wildwing left Mallory's room to make the reservations. Mallory hopped into her shower and thought over all of the things that had happened. The most confusing thing to her was what had happened when they had woken up. She asked if he really wanted to be stuck with her forever, and he didn't say no. In fact, he just hugged her tighter, and buried his head in her hair. Does he really have feelings for me? Is all of this too good to be true?  
  
"He can't love me," she said to no one in particular "I'm just seeing things that aren't there."  
  
Mallory stepped out of her shower, and wrapped her hair in one towel, her body in another.  
  
"MALLORY!!!" she heard Wildwing screaming at her from in front of her door. The door opened with a hiss as she stepped out to see Wildwing.  
  
"O gee Mal, I didn't know that you just got out of the shower" said Wildwing covering his eyes.  
  
"You can open your eyes, I'm not naked you know" she retorted  
  
"Alright" he said unshielding his eyes. He once again caught himself staring at Mallory, but quickly move his eyes to meet hers. "The reservations are for 8:30 so we need to go in about half an hour to get there on time." He said  
  
"Alright see you later Wing," she said and the door closed with a hiss as she walked back into her room.  
  
Mallory was having trouble trying to find something to wear. She had her hair done and her make-up on, but she couldn't find a dress to wear. That was when it hit her. "Of course, the velvet, thin strap, dark turquoise dress that Wing picked out for me. He'll DEFINATLY notice that dress on me."  
  
Mallory hurried to get dressed, hoping that she wasn't making them late for dinner. 


	11. Chapter 11

Disclaimer~ I do not own the Mighty Ducks or anything remotely related to them. Disney does, so please don't sue me. I'm not making anything off of this either; it's purely for entertainment purposes.  
  
Chapter 11  
  
A freshly showered and nicely dressed Wildwing stepped out into the Ready Room, holding a black, velvet box in his hand that contained the necklace that he had bought for Mallory. He opened the box, only for an instant, to gaze at the necklace inside, imagining how it would look on Mallory. He stuck it next to him, the black velvet of the box blending in with the black material of his suit. A few minutes later, Mallory walked in, wearing the dress that he hoped she would wear, the dress that he had picked out for her in the mall that day.  
  
"You look quite radiant in that dress Mallory." He said, standing up and hiding the box behind his back. "And look, I'm not standing around like a moron with my mouth hanging open again."  
  
All Mallory could do was stand there and blush at his compliment.  
  
"Well Wing, you do look like quite the charmer in that suit of yours," said Mal, finally able to say something.  
  
Mallory started to head for the car when she was suddenly stopped by Wildwing's voice.  
  
"Hey Mallory!" he called out heading towards the middle of the room where she was standing. "I have a little present to give you before we go" he said moving in so close to her that their beaks were almost touching.  
  
Wildwing handed Mallory the box with the necklace inside.  
  
"Oh my goodness!" Mallory gasped at the necklace inside the box. She had been admiring for over a year, she wanted it so badly, yet she knew that it was really expensive. Part of her ad been waiting for Wildwing to buy it for her, like in all of the good romance novels where the men bought the women expensive gifts as tokens of their love. The idea had seemed so far-fetched, it was almost ridiculous just thinking about it.  
  
"I knew you'd like it." Wildwing smiled "I saw you looking at it and I just knew that it would look dazzling on you."  
  
Wildwing took the necklace out of the box and hung it around her previously bare neck. Wildwing turned around to face her.  
  
"I just knew that you would look great in that necklace. I saw it and it made me think of your eyes, the necklace just matches them perfectly, although seeing you with the necklace on is a much more beautiful sight than just imagining you wearing it." He said  
  
Mallory grabbed Wildwing's hand and urged him to follow her.  
  
"I need to look in a mirror just to see this. Come with me!" she cried rushing down the hall, dragging Wildwing behind her.  
  
Mallory and Wildwing entered Mallory's room and stood in front of the very wide full-length mirror.  
  
"Oh my stars Wildwing it's beautiful!" she exclaimed  
  
"What's beautiful, the necklace or you?" he asked  
  
"The necklace much more so than me" she said, shaky from all of the blunt compliments he was giving her.  
  
"That would be where you are wrong Mallory, the necklace only enhances your natural beauty" he replied.  
  
"Thank you" she stammered, "So are you ready to go to dinner?" she asked  
  
"Let's go!" he said cheerfully, "Oh and one more thing, bring a change of clothes, they're calling for bad thunderstorms tonight."  
  
"Okay Wing, thanks for the warning" she replied.  
  
Mallory grabbed a change of clothes, and a few other things that they might need in case they got trapped in a bad storm, and shoved them in a bag. She ran out of the room, caught up to Wildwing, and then left for dinner. 


	12. Chapter 12

Disclaimer~ I do not own the Mighty Ducks or anything remotely related to them. Disney does, so please don't sue me. I'm not making anything off of this either; it's purely for entertainment purposes.  
  
Chapter 12  
  
Dinner that night was fairly uneventful. They swapped stories about embarrassing moments and funny things that had happened to them throughout their lives. Wildwing had toned down the compliments somewhat, knowing that they might make Mallory uncomfortable if she wasn't interested in him. Wildwing checked his watch, it read 10:00.  
  
"Hey Mal, I want to take you one more place tonight if that's alright with you."  
  
"Where would we be going at ten o'clock at night?" she asked.  
  
"You'll see," he said throwing her a wink.  
  
Wildwing paid the bill, and he and Mallory headed out to his car. Wildwing began to drive, and Mallory noticed they were heading away from the Pond, away from the city for that matter.  
  
"Um Wing where are we going?" asked Mallory  
  
Wildwing stopped the car at the top of a large cliff.  
  
"We're here!" he cried out.  
  
Mallory and Wildwing hopped out of the car and Mallory shivered from the chill in the air. Wildwing turned towards Mallory and placed a reassuring hand on her back.  
  
"Mallory this is my little secret spot. I come here whenever I need to get away from everyone else. Spending this kind of time with you has made me realize that you are in desperate need of a place where you can escape your life. I find that the calmness of this place helps me to relax and forget all of my problems. And now, I'm offering to share it with you. It can be our little place that no one else knows about."  
  
"Wildwing, this is one of the nicest things anyone has ever done for me. Thank you so much for helping me and being as nice as you are to me. I'd love to share this place with you." She responded, looking him straight in the eyes.  
  
"Hey Mallory have you ever learned any of the constellations in this dimension?"  
  
"No why?"  
  
"There fascinating, here I'll show them to you." Wildwing took Mallory's hand and led her to a spot next to the edge of the cliff. They lay down next to each other and Wildwing pointed out the constellations to her, sometimes telling the stories behind the constellations to her.  
  
"How do you know all of this Wing? I mean where do you find the time and patience to study this stuff?"  
  
"I read a lot. Whenever you can't find me I'm generally reading. I'll lend you the book that I learned all of these stars from. You'll catch on fast."  
  
Wildwing stood up and held out his hands for Mallory to help her up. She stumbled a bit, due to her high-heeled shoes.  
  
"Ugh damn it! I hate high heels!" she growled.  
  
Wildwing chuckled slightly while Mallory removed her shoes to prevent tripping again. Mallory and Wildwing just stared at each other, each one seeing the love burning in the others eyes. Mallory was the first to break the contact. All of a sudden, Wildwing wrapped his left arm around her waist and used his right hand to lift her head so that she was looking straight at him. They closed their eyes and he bent down and kissed her. Her arms wrapped around his neck and his right hand moved from her face to wander up and down her back. The kiss grew more passionate, filled with years of pent up love, anxiety and need. The kiss only broke as Wildwing and Mallory came up for air, and they both held each other, comfortably standing in each other's embrace. Mallory looked up at Wildwing.  
  
"I'll be right back," she whispered, and she instantly missed the warmth of his body as she let go and ran towards the car.  
  
She cam back a few seconds later with a boom box that she had fished out of her bag, complete with a CD full of romantic music that she often listened to when she felt lonely. She turned it on and then turned to Wildwing with an outstretched arm.  
  
"Dance with me" she said, more as a suggestion than a command.  
  
"Gladly" he replied and then swept her up into his arms.  
  
Halfway through the song, the sky clouded up, and rain began to pour heavily out of nowhere.  
  
"I think maybe we should head to the car," said Wildwing breaking the embrace, finding  
  
Mallory running towards her boom box in an attempt to gather it up. They both climbed into the second row of seats in his SUV breathing heavily from running. Wildwing pulled out some dry towels from under the seats and handed a few of them to Mallory.  
  
"Good call on bringing dry clothes," she said, handing Wildwing his bag of dry things while keeping a hold on hers.  
  
"Do you care about changing in front of me?" he asked  
  
"Not at all" she said, and they both started to change into something dryer.  
  
They stashed the wet things into the floor of the SUV, and put towels over where they had been sitting. They climbed into the back of the SUV, where the third row of seats had been folded down, and Wildwing wrapped them both up in a heavy, warm blanket. They just lay there, watching the rain fall around them, both too caught up in each other's arms to say anything. Mallory was the first to talk.  
  
"Hey Wing?"  
  
"Yea Mal?"  
  
"Is it alright with you if I don't want kids?"  
  
"I don't want them either so I guess my answer would be yes."  
  
Mallory and Wildwing both laughed quietly at their revelation, and just continued to lose themselves in each other.  
  
"Wildwing?"  
  
"Yea?"  
  
"Do you want to come spend the night with me again?"  
  
"I was about to ask you the same question. Waking up next to you is something that I thoroughly enjoyed. Waking up isn't the same if I can't do it with you."  
  
Mallory's only response to that was to snuggle in closer to Wildwing, tightening her grip on his neck.  
  
"Mallory?"  
  
"Yea Wing?"  
  
"I love you."  
  
"I love you too."  
  
"I thought you weren't able to love others Mal."  
  
"You're the only duck that I know that is worth loving. You helped me learn how to love you."  
  
Wildwing kissed her forehead and buried his head in her hair. Mallory and Wildwing were happier now than they had ever been before, Wildwing because he had someone to love, and Mallory because someone finally found her to be worth their love. 


End file.
